2016年商务英语考试BEC中级每日一练(7月4日)

单项选择题1、根据下面资料，回答题
A
The Birmingham Alliance will provide Birmingham with one of Europe's largest regional shopping centres, right in the heart of the city．The Alliance, an initiative between three of the largest developers in the country, all with extensive experience of urban regeneration schemes, will facilitate an 800m investment in Birmingham．This will regenerate 40 acres of the city centre within the next decade．Planning permission is in place for the new scheme, which will be A．short distance from existing prime retail areas．The development will be well serviceD by all forms of publiC．transport, as well as providing parking space forε 3,200 cars.
B
The private-publiC．partnership between Legal & General anD Bracknell Town Council will manage the ~ 500m regeneration of the town's centre．The proposals, which are awaiting the outcome of consultation with local residents, provide for approximately 102,000 m2 of retail anD leisure facilities, ε200 residential units anD office accommodation．This development is expecteD to set the standarD for town centre regeneration schemes to come because of the way it integrates the business anD community sectors．It will also facilitate great improvements in the region's transport infrastructure.
C
Bluewater is A．symbol of retail excellence, achieveD through A．unique combination of design, retail mix, leisure, catering anD hospitality．The centre, surroundeD by parkland, is situateD in the country's most affluent region．Eleven million people, with A．combineD spending power predicteD to exceeD A．recorD 5.5bn, live within 60 minutes of the centre．The developers set A．precedent in the industry by gating the country's three best-known department stores to open very large branches within the centre, as well as over 300 leading fashion anD lifestyle stores.
D
Following its recent stock market success, LenD Lease is now developing Overgate shopping centre in Dundee．Construction is well under way, anD with several of the country's best-known retailers already secured, LenD Lease is promoting the centre as the unrivalleD shopping destination of the region．The economiC．base of the areA．has improveD continuously over the past decade, due to the fast expansion of the biomedical anD service sectors．With an estimateD potential market of 500,000 people, Overgate is proving attractive to leading UK retailers.
This development is in an areA．where the potential for consumer spending is the highest in the country.

2、根据下面资料，回答题
A．James King: Chief Executive of Fentons Finance
King was nominateD for the quality of his leadership, with the judges claiming that the Fentons Finance boss is almost revereD by his team．He is crediteD with reinventing Fentons Finance - revitalizing its culture of inflexibility, removing outdateD pre-merger barriers anD playing A．brilliant tactical game．He leD everyone to believe he was opposeD to large mergers anD then jumpeD on the Westcombe Bank opportunity at just the right moment．History will be the judge, but for now the markets consider King to be A．star.
B．Keith Nash: Chief Executive of Hamley's Supermarkets
Nash took over as CEO when Hamley's systems anD distribution were out of date anD the branD badly needeD freshening up．He began refocusing the branD at the higher quality enD of the fooD market anD launcheD several own-branD initiatives for the health conscious．As A．result, the share price has gone up nearly 80 per cent．This shoulD be extremely satisfying for Nash, who haD left the retailer in 1986, disappointeD after failing to secure the top job.
C．Jorge Marquez: Chairman of the Kenwick Group
Marquez was A．popular choice for his achievements at Kenwick．The judges say he has been courageous in pushing through the appointment of controversial or inexperienceD chief executives to companies within the group, anD then sponsoring them as they transformeD their businesses．He operates as A．"virtual" chairman, without A．permanent office in any one company．He phones his CEOs regularly, anD several of them have acknowledgeD the vital contribution he makes to their effectiveness．Everyone is impresseD at how he also finds the time to be chairman of two other large companies.
D．RicharD Jenkins: Finance Director of Centron Advertising
Labouring in the shadow of A．high-profile boss can sometimes draw attention away from the finance director, anD the judges considereD it was high time Jenkins got that attention．The CEO may be the publiC．face of Centron, but Jenkins is the one who makes it run smoothly．BehinD the scenes, he is constantly demonstrating that budgets anD forecasts are what is needeD to make A．company successful, particularly now that the advertising market has been hit by recession, it is largely thanks to him that Centron is in much better shape than its rivals.
This businessman has successfully targeteD A．different group of consumers.

3、根据下面资料，回答题
Morning,NoonandNight The long-hours culture at work
Working an eight-hour day is a luxury for most professional people. Nowadays, the only way to guarantee an eight-hour working day is to have a kind of job where you clock on and off. Those professionals who have managed to limit their hours to what was, 20 years ago, averagely do not wish to identify themselves. "1 can quite easily achieve my work within a normal day, but I don't like to draw attention to it," says one sales manager. "People looked at me when I left at 5 o'clock. Now, I put paperwork in my bag. People assume I'm doing extra hours at home."
But more typical is Mark, who works as an account manager. He says, "My contract says I work from 9 until 5 with extra hours as necessary. It sounds as if the extra hours are exceptional. In fact, my job would be enough not only for me, but also for someone else part- time. The idea of an eight-hour day makes me laugh!" He says he has thought about going freelance but realizes that this doesn't guarantee better working hours.
Professor Cary Cooper, occupational psychologist at the University of Manchester, is the author of the annual Quality of Working, Life survey. The most recent survey found that 77% of managers in Britain work more than their contracted hours, and that this is having a damaging effect for their health, relationships and productivity. Professor Cooper is critical of the long-hour culture. He says that while bosses believe long hours lead to greater efficiency, there is no evidence support this. "In fact, the evidence shows that long hours make you ill." There are, he says, steps that can be taken. One is to accept that the in-tray will never be empty. "There are always things to do. You just have to make the rule that on certain days you go home early. Prioritizing work and doing essential tasks first helps," he says. He also thinks it's time to criticize bad employers and unreasonable terms of employment. By all means, show commitment where necessary but when expectations are too high, people have to begin saying openly that they have a life outside of work.
Personal development coach Mo Shapiro agrees that communication is important. Staff needs to talk to managers about the working practices within a company. Both parties should feel that the expectations are realistic and allow them to have responsibilities and interests outside work. She recognizes, however, that in many organizations the response might well be, "If you want interests outside work, then find another job".
She believes that senior staff has a duty to set an example. "1 recently worked for a firm of solicitors where the partners started at 7:30 am. What kind of message is that to send to the staff?" She believes there is no shame in working sensible hours - in fact quite the reverse."Some people might be in at 7:30 but will be doing very little. You can work really hard from9 to 5 and achieve the same. If you find it difficult to achieve an eight-hour day, there is, as a last resort, the old trick of leaving your jacket on your chair and your computer switched on, even after you have left the building.
What does the writer say in the first paragraph about people who work an eight-hour day? A． They are reluctant to admit to this.B． They are disliked by their colleagues.C． They are limited to certain professions.D． They often catch up on work in the evenings.

4、根据下面资料，回答题
A
Gianluca Tramcere, Silica Systems An outsourced IT service is never a fully independent entity. It is tied to the home company's previous and continuing systems of working. But despite the added responsibility of managing new ways of working, many businesses ignore the integration process. They fail to establish contracts that define the ways in which the two companies will work alongside one another, and focus solely on the technological aspects of service delivery.
B
Kevin Rayner, Domola Businesses need to build integration competency centers dedicated to managing the integration effort. It is critical to have an individual in charge to check that the external and internal business operations work together. Although companies often think of outsourcing as a way of getting rid of people and assets, they need to remember that, at the same time, outsourcing involves gaining people. Because there is a new operation being carried out in a different way outside of the home business, this creates a training element.
C
Clayton Locke, Digital Solutions Communication is the key to success, and outsourcing to other regions or countries can lead to a range of problems. For any such initiative, it is necessary to create a team where there is good, open communication and a clear understanding of objectives and incentives. Bringing people to the home location from the outsourced centre is necessary, since it can aid understanding of the complexities of the existing system. To integrate efficiently, outsourcing personnel have to talk to the home company's executives and users to understand their experiences.
D
Kim Noon, J G Tech One way to avoid the difficulties of integration is to create a joint venture company with the outsourcer. Thus, a company can swap its assets for a share of the profits. Yet joint ventures bring potential troubles and companies should be careful not to lose sight of the original rationale for outsourcing: to gain cost efficiencies and quality of service in an area that for some reason could not be carried out entirely in-house. The complexities and costs of a joint venture initiative should not be underestimated.
the need to teach skills to employees working on the outsourced process

5、根据下面内容，回答题
Business Meetings
It is important that ideas anD．suggestions tableD．at formal meetings are voiceD．at the (0)..D..．time．This is achieveD．by keeping to the (19).....． shown on the agenda．For example, there is no (20).....． in discussing ideas to do with Item Six on the agendA．when Item Two has not yet been (21).....． Such deviations from the agendA．may (22)......． in confusion among the people at the meeting; they may also (23).....． concentration if they see something as irrelevant.
To make certain that the meeting proceeds in an orderly fashion, it is therefore useful to(24) .....．some grounD．rules．First, everyone will neeD．to understanD．that they must(25) .....．their comments to the topiC．under discussion．The Chair can then encourage one person to speak at A．(26) .....．so that any ideas offereD．can be discusseD．anD．(27)Once that person has finished, someone else can put (28)....． their ideas anD．so on．If this procedure is adopted, the participants will be able to follow the various issues in A．consistent manner, which will help with the decision-making (29)....． later on．It will also (30).....that the quiet people at meetings get A．chance to (31)....． their say, rather than just their more outspoken colleagues．In (32).....． it is often the quiet people at meetings who generate the best ideas, because they are in the (33).....． of thinking before they speak.
（19）应选A．structureB．directionC．orderD．arrangemer

填空题6、根据下面内容，回答题

Customer Behaviour

0 The consumer is the focus of all retail business and it is important to appreciate how
00 consumers are influenced in their buying decisions．Most of consumers, before making a
34 purchase, gather information and evaluate with the alternatives, but the extent to which
35 they look for information depends on the type of purchase．For example, in the case of
36 routine grocery purchases most consumers respond．to automatically．However, for
37 purchases where the risk of making the wrong decision is greater, like buying a new
38 car, so the search for information is more important．The decision to purchase is never a
39 single decision but a number of these separate decisions, and at any time during this
40 process, consumers can change their minds about and choose an alternative route．For
41 example, although a consumer may have decided where to buy a product only to realize
42 at the last moment that this is, in fact, having the wrong choice．The price in the store may
43 be too high or the staff unhelpful．On the other hand, a lack of queues, favourable credit
44 facilities and efficient staff all lead to a too positive impression, so retailers should
45 remember how difficulties in these areas that can affect a sale or even lose a customer permanently.

34__________

7、

1. Problems at Southford Plant

Dear MR Ballard,
You asked for a brief report concerning the recent events at the Southford Plant.
We have consulted the files and spoken to relevant members of the higher management and thus are able to provide an explanation for the breakdown reported in the press on 17 May of this year.
____1____ The handling equipment used to deliver the components to the assembly line has been known to be in need of an overhaul for the past six months. The plant has been working to full capacity to finish the American orders according to schedule.
As you know, we had commissioned a study by Industrial Research Consultants. ____2____ In it they warned that there was not enough space available to store sufficient components ____3____
We had decided to install fully automated robot system. However, at the same time it was clear to our production director that given the present maintenance staff, we would not have sufficient staff available if big problems were to arise____4____But we were still only working a two-shift system so the machines were not getting the necessary cover.
We all agree that the breakdown was extremely unfortunate and yet we must admit that, under the circumstance, it was not entirely unexpected.
We now believe that we have managed to sort out the major problems which we had been having with the conveyor equipment ____5____ Added to this is the fact that personnel department has been successful in recruiting some highly qualified maintenance staff who makes us confident that a repetition of the 16 May now seems entirely unlikely.
A. They also recommended expanding the present two-shift system to a three-shift one.
B. And also when the new robots are installed in September, we feel certain that such problems will become a thing of the past.
C. Unfortunately, as you know, there has been a major problem with recognizing the maintenance schedule.
D. The wide range of machine we operate is not fully supervised at all times.
E. The cause of the breakdown was very simple.
F. They submitted their report on April 5.
G. There have been a number of delays and breakdowns in production recently which have been reported in the press.
H. The firm has been advertising for maintenance engineers for some weeks.
I. All the facilities in the plant will be coordinated to enable the workers to step up production of the new range of machines.

8、

Questions 8-12
·Read the text below about career planning.
·Choose the best sentence from the list on the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.
·For each gap 8-12, mark one letter (A-I) on your Answer sheet.
·Do not use any letter more than once.

Career Planning
For many employees, automatic promotion up the ranks of a company is becoming increasingly rare. A new study suggests that, in response, employers need to consider how they can help staff develop their careers.
Employers need to rethink their approach to career management completely, according to the latest research by the Institute of Employment Studies. The new study finds that in fact there is little opportunity for individual career development in many large organisations. (example)____.The Institute of Employment Studies makes it clear that it is not good practice for companies to hand over career development to individual employees and then simply leave them to get on with it. (8) ____.
So how should employers help their staff develop a career? Most employees have come to accept that career development is not always the same thing as upward promotion and a higher salary. (9) ____.They must also ensure that these opportunities are extended to all their staff and not just to selected individuals.
Nick Bridges, who is Director of Human Resources Policy at the Bank of Eastern England, believes there is more talk than action in this area. (10) ____. One way, he believes, for companies to show how serious they are about individual learning is to make it an official part of company practice, as the Bank of Eastern England has done. (11)____. This document, he points out, has made the role of managers clear, and the company has also invested huge amounts of money educating managers so that they can then train their staff.
Another company, British Chemicals, has contracted an independent organisation to help staff with confidential career advice. According to John Yates, the head of Individual Learning and Development at British Chemicals, there is an important role for outside agencies to play in the career management process. He adds that it is company policy for managers to give all staff ‘roadmaps’ which show possible career routes within the company structure. (12)____. This has worked especially well, he says, for staff who are used to depending on their line managers for guidance.
Many large organisations now recognise that career development cannot be regarded in isolation, and must be part of an overall business strategy. Human Resources has a real role to play in building a strong workforce which meets a company’s long-term business needs and makes it more competitive.

A Its policy statement says that by 2006, eighty per cent of its staff will have a professional qualification.
B His recommendations go even further than that, and he has called for a national debate on the issue of what should be regarded as a career in the future.
C This change of attitude means employers need to place more emphasis on giving staff the chance to develop a range of skills through horizontal job moves.
D It points out that employees need to know what the overall company vision is in order to achieve many of these.
E The problem that often arises is that, while they are increasingly encouraged to manage their own careers, they are not provided with the knowledge and training to do this.
F They are able to see that, contrary to expectations, jobs in different fields are similar, and they can also see how it is possible to cross over to other areas.
G Its employees are no longer motivated by these factors alone, and the problem today is matching a person’s motivation with the right job.
H He argues that while Human Resources managers are saying the way forward is through self-managed learning and self-development, they are still failing to provide adequate learning resources.
I The main reasons for this, it concludes, are the recent cuts in the number of middle-management posts, and the changes that have taken place in the responsibilities of personnel departments.

简答题9、Part One
Your company has just opened a new office in the United States. You have agreed to go and work there for six months.

Write a memo of 30-40 words to all your colleagues:
Explaining why you will be absent;
Saying when you are leaving the office;
Expressing your wish to keep in touch;

Write on your answer sheet.

Part Two
You work for RCT, a company which sells business stationery. RCT is interested in becoming an agent for Novestat, a company which manufactures paper products.
Read Novestat’s advertisement below, on which you have made some notes.
Then, using all your notes, write a letter to James Dowling at Novestat.

Do not include postal addresses.
Write 100-120 words.
Write on your answer sheet.

10、• Read the article below about the winner of a business award .
• In most of the lines 34-45 there is one extra word . It is either grammatically incorrect or
doesn’t fit in the meaning of the text . Some lines, however, are correct .
• If a line is correct , write CORRECT on your Answer Sheet .
• If there is a extra word in the line , write the extra word in CAPITAL LETTER on your Answer Sheet.
• The exercises begins with two examples , (0) and (00) .

Examples

0

C

O

R

R

E

C

T

00

I

T

INCREASINGCUSTOMERSLOYALTY

0Customers are not revolutionaries. They are attracted to be the
certainty of knowing that

00what they buy it will be good value for money or will perform a
particular task effectively.

34They are cautious but their loyalty , without once achieved , is the
key to business success.

35Brands can help to create customer loyalty by providing us a signpost
to certainty and

36safety . Ideally , when a customer sees off a product , it leads to a
range of positive thoughts

37so that the product is being bought . Unfortunately , only a small
number of products have

38reached to this level . While everyone in business is aware of the
need to attract and

39retain customers , that they often overlook the second , more
important , half of the

40equation . In the excitement of beating against the competition and
securing orders,

41managers
often fail to ensure that the customer remains a customer . It has been

42estimated that since the average company loses between 10 to 30% of
its customers

43every year and this only recently have organizations started to wake
up to these lost

44opportunities and to calculate the financial implications .
Established customers often

45buy more and, in the addition , they may also provide free
word-of-mouth advertising.